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eating at desk 16

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jerry1423

jerry1423

Mechanical
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I work near a person who eats at his desk. It really would not bother me if it was quiet foods, but it is always things like chips, carrots, and stuff like that.

Sometimes I wear factory earplugs so that I can concentrate on my work better.

Would I be appropriate to approach our manager and ask if this can be stopped, or am I just overly sensitive to those sounds?
 
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i agree with ctopher...all those things are annoying!! the coughing and blowing of noses is really really irritating.

around here for the most part, the phone calls are unavoidable as they are work related. we're too close in this "cube farm" to do anything about it.
 
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I think you're just being oversensitive and should get back to work.
 
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Loud talkers get to me, especially loud phone talkers & I sit near one. As far as the food things goes, its not the sound, but the smell of food that gets me.
 
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If you ever want to see a bunch of cube droids practice whining for the Olympics, log into But this thread isn't far off it.

I find the combination of loud but ineffective air conditioning, noise cancelling headphones, and a large music collection, render even the noisiest of neighbours bearable, including when they have a tube meeting (not as exciting as it sounds) at the next desk.


Cheers

Greg Locock

SIG:Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
 
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Living (sorry, working) in a cube farm can be a trial but some one here (in this forum) once highlighted the compensatory joy of what he richly described as a "Groundhog Event" that is, some happening so surprising or shocking that everyone's head would pop up over the partitions to see what was going on.
Now, Ctopher, I'm sure that you must have experienced at least one Groundhog event to make it all worthwhile?

JMW
 
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"One that brakes to look at an incident?"
I hope you haven't taken that expression from dippy radio traffic reporters commenting on the jams that result when there has been an accident.... try driving through an accident scene at your usual rate of knots and see what happens, or perhaps you do and explain that the reason you are going slower is because of the car in front.

JMW
 
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Its an interesting point, in terms of management supplying the space to have a common lunchroom versus everyone eating at their cube. When my current company shifted offices, the lunchroom was forgotten about, despite being discussed a few times as a requirement for the office fitout.

Previous companies had a separate lunchroom, and the difference in moral and social interaction was amazing.

So now we get most of the fun that has been listed in this thread, and most of us end up eating at our desks. Most of the noises and so on don't really bother me, with the exception of one engineer who insists on talking on the phone in his loudest voice when he thinks he's doing something important, which is generally antagonising our clients. Funny how he talks really quietly when management ring him up to tell him to extract his cranium from his rectum.
 
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Eating doens't bother me. I worked in a cubicle office a little while ago and one guy was always eating chips. I was fine with it but I know a couple other guys that it drove crazy. I told them to suck it up.

However, everyone has their pet peeves. Some people it's hearing people eat. We have a smoker, who I'm sure is already dying b/c of it, in our office. He'd have these coughing fits that were totally gross.

I'm in an "office" now, and to be honest, I miss the cubicle like atmosphere. I like to be able to talk to people to get through a day and now I can't. Our new office has separate offices for everyone and it seems so inpersonal. I always feel like I'm interrupting something when I go to talk to someone. It's definitely taken some of the personality out of the office and I miss the old setup.
 
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there are always noises in my office, we have about 20 or so people in the same office, and the office is never quite, people are chatting to each other, on the phone, eating drinking, etc, noises never bothered me :)

Cuttie
 
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Wearing ear plugs is a given in the office environment. I use musician earplugs which attenuate 30-40 DBA. They are OK for the phone. They are white, multi-ribbed with a special core to allow conversation. I use them in church, too, now that it is similar to attending a rock concert.

From the mgr point of view, a person sitting at his desk during lunchtime is available on the phone for an urgent call.
 
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I feel lucky that I get along with my office partner. We both eat crunchy things at our desks and have enough manners to bring in enough to share with each other. We will both put on our headphones to ‘tune out’ phone conversations and such.

I never really thought of crunching to be all that distracting. Farting, belching and clipping toenails is distracting. As is my boss' penchant for never ever picking up the receiver on his phone. I can hear his conversations from two offices away.

"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"
 
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jmw,

Yes, the farting CAD guy is still here, and works no where near my desk. He comes into the office to ask my office partner something and will announce his arrival by farting or belching. Lovely





"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"
 
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I am shocked at how insensitive so many of you can be. Have you no compassion? It sounds like the draftsman might be suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Whereas it is not common for those suffering from IBS to have problems with excessive gas at both ends, it can happen. All I can say is thank god for the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA). The DDA aims to ensure disabled people have more equal access to things that most people take for granted - like working, learning, shopping, and going out with friends. It requires people, mainly service providers and employers, not to refuse service to a disabled person, nor to refuse to employ them, just because they are a disabled person.

The thing to keep in mind is that we should all be more accommodating to others and not jump to conclusions. It is possible that this errant drafter may be suffering a medical problem. In addition, he may also be exhibiting what seems to be inappropriate conduct when the gas happens. Haven’t we all have been guilty of an uncontrolled laugh that was derived from some type of embarrassment?

I say that it is time we all become a little more accommodating to others; because you never know, they just might be suffering from a medical or psychological disorder.
 
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LOL Zapster, nice touch...or maybe the medical field classifies everything, including lack of good manners, as a "syndrome" or a "condition" or a "disorder" because then they can charge to treat it.
 
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By the way, and I apologise because we are not in the language forum, what does "more equal" meaner?
Shouldn't that be "Equal" or "more equitable"?

JMW
 
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You poor poor souls, you need to get a job in the field and then you can tell the guy next you to shut the F@*% up.

 
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